1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a socket, especially to a torque socket having one end being sleeved with a manual, pneumatic or electric output rotation tool and having the other end being sleeved with a drive head.
2. Description of Related Art
For fastening or loosening a screw, a screwdriver is mostly used, the process is done by inserting the drive head at the bottom of a screwdriver into the top recess of a screw then normally or reversely rotating the grip of the screwdriver for fastening or loosening the screw, for the purpose of combining or separating various instruments.
A screwdriver mostly consists of a grip having a preset length and a drive rod having a drive head. The drive head in often designed in a flat shape or cross shape, for being mated with the flat or cross-shaped top recess of a screw, so as to fasten or loosen the screw. However, the shape and dimension of the drive head of the mentioned screwdriver is fixed and cannot be replaced by other drive heads having different shapes and dimensions. In view of the mentioned disadvantages, manufacturers in the related arts have developed a manual tool capable of changing drive head, e.g. a wrench. After the wrench is sleeved with a socket, an insertion slot at the bottom of the socket can be sleeved with a drive head having different shape and dimension, thereby being applicable to various types of screws. As such, the socket is merely served as a tool for transmitting torque without being installed with a torque mechanism with fixed value.
When using a convention rotation tool such as screwdriver or wrench to adjust the lens of an optical device, e.g. a monitor, because the torque value of the rotation tool is determined by the force applied by the user, in the adjustment process, the lens is often damaged or broken due to the excessive torque, thereby causing tremendous lost.
For preventing a user from using a rotation tool such as a screwdriver or wrench to rotate an article to be fastened, e.g. a screw, with a rotation force exceeding the range tolerable by the screw, and causing the screw deformation. As such, a screwdriver having a transmission structure configured by springs and steel balls for limiting the torque output has been developed, when said screwdriver is in use, the steel balls would separate from the springs when the torque is too large, so the screwdriver is separated from the adopted drive head, thereby forming an idle rotation state between the screwdriver and the drive head, thus the screwdriver is only allowed to output a preset torque for preventing the damage of the article to be fastened.
By using the screwdriver with the transmission performed through springs and steel balls, the output torque can be controlled at a fixed value; however, the engaging and sliding between the springs and steel balls is in point contact, so the components are fragile and deformation and damage may occur; as a result, the limited value of output torque is not stable. Moreover, the dimension of the screwdriver cannot be designed to be smaller due to the transmission structure having springs and steel balls, so said screwdriver is almost useless for the fastening operation of a precision instrument.